Oswego's mayor leaves city hall to do "whatever I want"

Oswego, NY -- Outgoing Oswego Mayor Randolph Bateman came into the city’s top spot after a tumultuous year or so in the Port City.

It was late 2005 and early 2006. Oswego hadn’t had an elected mayor since former Mayor John Gosek resigned Sept. 21, 2005, five days after being arrested by the FBI on charges of soliciting sex from underage girls in exchange for money and drugs. (Gosek ended up serving 33 months in federal prison.)

Bateman became acting mayor in January 2006 and ran in November to fill the remainder of Gosek’s term. He was elected to a full four-year term as mayor in November 2007.

“The lowest part of my years as mayor was coming into office and trying to get the city back on track,” Bateman said Thursday. “And the highest point was coming into office and beginning work on straightening out the city.”

Bateman, 56, is leaving public life as of Sunday after serving as Fourth Ward councilor from 1998 to 2006 and mayor from 2006 to 2011. New Mayor Thomas Gillen takes the oath as mayor at 1 p.m. Sunday in the common council chambers in city hall.

Bateman is proud of what has happened in the city since he took office.

“We began an Employee Expectation List — one of the things we included was ‘don’t do anything you don’t want to read about in tomorrow’s paper,’” he said. “We began an Employee of the Month and also began recognition for those who had worked for the city for 15, 20 and 25 years.”

Other highlights? From 2007 through 2012, the tax rate has increased only 26 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, he said. The city also obtained $75,000 from the nuclear plants to help lease a new ambulance, obtained three new fire vehicles, rebuilt and refurbished the Bridge Street and Utica Street bridges and put the city code on its website.

He said the city also completed a trail system along the harbor and Breitbeck Park, started the Linear Park mural project, obtained $1 million from the state to upgrade the aging fleet of equipment in the Department of Public Works, purchased the International Marina, put solar panels in Crisafulli Rink and the East Side Fire Station and removed unneeded street lights to save money.

And probably the biggest project during his tenure was signing a consent decree with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which states the city has to correct problems with its wastewater treatment plants and sewer system over the next 10 or so years and must make its sewer fund self-sufficient by March 2012.

Bateman retired from Constellation Energy in October and says after leaving office “I’ll be able to do whatever I want.” That is, he said, after he completes the six years of items on a list from wife, Jo-Anne.